PedroDaGr8

Wow, over a month since the last post. Seems like Seattle is on their game and not many are having issues.

Updated my PNW tracker with the most recent data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YeRoAOAtGsInGRjNgkNw1RrWbAtEDIysrs_lNcTRT7M/edit?usp=sharing The pending cases in Seattle are down to 9,400 cases a number not seen since 2016! This is down HEAVILY from the 25,480 pending cases a year ago and even more so from the all time high of 28,901 two years previous. Overall, across the entire PNW (SEA, SPO, YAK, POR) the number of pending cases is 14,678. The last time we were below this number was 2015! Before that time, while the backlog was lower, so was the number of received cases. Basically, they are running a backlog of approximately 6 months worth of cases (based on the number received per quarter). Clearly, the massive backlog reduction measures done by USCIS have been paying huge dividends for the area. While we might see the number of pending cases drop a bit more, I don't expect it to be a lot. At some point, the hard to adjucate cases and load balancing of officers to other forms (AoS, RoC, etc.) and field offices should impose a limit on how much improvement is achievable.

Sorry to hear that. At least you are in the home stretch! Also, examples like yours are why I tell people that same day oaths are never guaranteed. You can do everything right but things can go wrong on the officers end and same day oaths won't happen.

Yes they do. When you enter you will hand them your green card and you will leave with your naturalization certificate.

Possible yes, even very likely. That being said, not guaranteed.

I somehow missed that the 2022Q4 (which goes from 01JUL2022-30SEP2022) processing data came out last month. I updated the PNW - N-400 Naturalization Historical Case Load Data Spreadsheet and the increased processing, which was ramping up in Q3, is clearly now in full swing! The number of cases decided in Seattle increased DRAMATICALLY from 6,900 cases to 11,737 decided this quarter. Unlike Q3, which saw 1,700 transferred cases, in Q4 only 851 cases transferred elsewhere. To give an idea of how impressive 11,737 decided cases is, Seattle decided 14,492 cases in the previous THREE quarters. This is by far the highest number of cases decided for the period in which I have data (starting 2013Q4). There was a slight uptick in received cases at 4,698 received during Q4 but this is well within historical trends. Overall, pending cases in Seattle dropped 7,890 to a low of 13,043; a level not seen since the beginning of 2017! Looking at the Pacific Northwest as a whole, we see historically high rates of decided cases in Portland and Yakima as well at 5,209 and 994 respectively. Around 701 cases aren’t accounted for as decided (likely transferred out of the area). Received cases held steady at 7,157, a number which is within the usual for the past 4-5 years. In the end, the total pending cases in the region has dropped MASSIVELY by 11,965 to 18,946 (which like Seattle, was last seen in 2017Q1). Based on recent trends, I don't expect 2023Q1 (01OCT2022-31DEC2022) to be historically high but I do expect the levels to remain well above historical averages resulting in an even lower backlog.

Likely a combination of the thanksgiving holiday, the excel sheet finally catching up to the reality of the current scenario (no longer underestimating the times), and Seattle being fully caught up. The later means the officers can be used to help other FO catch-up as they roll out the remote interview systems. Also, it is possible they have pivoted to clearing the backlog for I-485 (which Seattle has a lot as well).

Yes, my wife was able to get hers in a week, for our flight 17 days out. If you are within 14 days of your trip, I would call and schedule the appointment as close to her interview date as possible (obviously after and not before). Can always cancel if she doesn't get same day naturalization.